Secret Circle: Summertime And The Dead Are Living
by Alesia
Summary: A basic continuation of the Secret Circle books, only, told from Laurel's POV. Kori's come back from the dead.. and for some reason, no one's bugged by this.
1. Prologue

Prologue: Where Are They Now?  
Monday, June 2nd  
morning  
disclaimer -- Laurel, Melanie, Diana, Cassie Blake, Adam, Nick, Chris Henderson, Doug Henderson, Suzan Whittier, Deborah, Faye Chamberlain, Sean, Kori, and any others you recognize are creative property of L.J. Smith. All others are of my personal creation and thereby mine.   
  
Laurel smiled, and pulled the curtain back over the window. The adorable little scene that Cassie and Adam were creating on Diana's front lawn was really none of her business, and she didn't think Diana would want to see it at all. It was summer break, the first time that the whole coven had been together since a day or two over spring break. College had really torn them all apart, almost literally from coast to coast of the United States.  
Cassie, Sean and Laurel had graduated a year early (thanks to their "persuasion" of some of the teachers) and Cassie was attending Boston College, with Laurel. They were both studying mediaeval history, and having a wonderful time doing it. Diana had gone to some liberal arts school in Connecticut to get a degree in English literature, and Adam was up at Cornell, working on a doctorate. Cassie had hoped to go to the adjoining Ithaca college, and work with music, but, she wasn't accepted there. Faye was studying drama (as though she needed to work on that) in New York City. Deborah, Susan, Chris, Doug and Sean (most of whom had scoffed at the whole school after high school thing) were staying on the island, taking courses at a community college. Or, so they said. Melanie and Nick had been the real surprises of the group, though, both venturing out to the same college. A college which was Stanford. And everyone had thought that Adam getting into Cornell was amazing...   
Their spring breaks hadn't all coincided, and there was only two days in March when they had all been back at the island. Those two days were so crammed full of action that Laurel remembered little more than a blur of motion and sound and people. Now, though, they had a full three months to do what they would with. Cassie, Diana, Faye, Melanie, Deborah, Suzan, Adam, Nick, Sean, Doug and Chris. Together again, on New Salem Island. Things were going to get downright wild   
  
  



	2. Tango In The Night

Tuesday, June 3rd  
Evening  
Cassie's house  
  
They were meeting here simply because it was the easiest place for them to meet. Cassie's mother was okay now, of course, and her grandmother was dead, but, there was still many unused rooms in the house. As in, almost a whole unused wing in the house. Cassie had let them come over before she got home from the store. Witches or not, it was summer, they were college kids, and everyone needed money. Laurel was just glad that her shift at the greenhouse ended at noon. There were some advantages to getting up early.  
Of course, knowing this group, it could be a very late night...  
Laurel and Melanie had arrived early, and within minutes of each other, and had only been alone for a few moments, which frustrated Laurel. Melanie was her best friend, and they hadn't seen each other for more than a few minutes without someone else around. Laurel was dying to get a good talk in. Last night at Diana's had been wonderful, but, that was with Cassie and Diana, which made things a bit more hyper. Laurel had come to like Cassie more and more during their year in Boston, and she got along with her far better than before, but, Melanie was her childhood friend, and would remain that way.   
Adam and Nick were there with them, and the sight of those two as friends was enough in itself to make Laurel giggle. Adam, the white knight of the Circle, and Nick, who was as mysterious as anyone Laurel had made the acquaintance of. And, in the case of a 19 year old witch, that was really saying something. The four of them had fallen silent over the past few minutes.  
Finally, Adam glanced to the door, growing impatient. "Where the heck is everyone? Cassie said she got off work at 7, and the others didn't even have work to keep them away.."   
Melanie rolled her eyes. "Adam, be sensible. It's five of seven now. Cassie probably won't be back until ten after, and, Diana will probably pick her up at the store. Faye and her crowd will probably be fashionably late, as always."   
Adam sighed, and nodded. Then, to her surprise, he glanced to Laurel, his stormy eyes looking nervous. Damn, the man was good looking. There should be laws against him looking pensively at single women. If he hadn't always been Diana's or Cassie's, and she hadn't been raised with him from childhood, Laurel would probably have made more of a fool around him than she did around most guys. "Laurel... can I ask you something?"   
Laurel nodded, a puzzled look creeping into her green-hazel eyes. "Of course, Adam. What's up?"   
Adam looked a little uncomfortable. "I know this isn't any of my business or anything, but, has Cassie been... dating in Boston?"   
Chuckling a bit, Laurel shook her head. Those two were really too classically romantic for words. "No, you don't have any competition, though, if you ever visit I reckon Cassie will. With the pictures of you she's got up in the dorm.. well, just have it be safe to know that about half the female population of the freshman class is pining after you."   
After a relieved look, Adam flashed a grin. "What, only half? You've killed my ego, Laur. I was hoping for at least two thirds.. "   
Laurel sent him a withering look. "Keep the ego under control, but, expect to be mobbed when you visit. Seriously. So, Mel, any of the girls going wacky over the pictures at Stanford?"   
Her gray eyes sparkling Melanie shook her head. "Not a one. Though, Nick can hardly keep the women off of him." Grinning mischievously over at her fellow Stanfordite, Melanie continued "It's barely safe to have him visit my dorm, now, unless Christa's out." Christa was Melanie's roommate, and not a half bad one, if you went by her letters. Emails, more like. Laurel was an awful letter writer, and she was incredibly glad the she and Melanie both had America Online.  
Laurel raised a brow at Nick. "Really, now? Never thought I'd see the day when you turned into a player, Nick" she said, teasingly, and giving Nick a quick smile just to make sure he knew all was innocent. Nicholas was the one that no one had ever understood, even Cassie, who'd dated him for a while. Laurel always was kind of.. silent, nervous, when she was around Nick.  
Nick grinned back at her, a rare occurrence to say the least. "Mel's right. I'm gonna have to take up kickboxing to fight them off."   
Laurel bit back a sharp reply, as the door opened. She could've sworn Adam muttered "finally" under his breath, but, she couldn't hear that clearly. A fair head peeked in. Diana. "Hey, is Cassie here? I went to meet her at the store, but, they said she'd already left. Early, in fact. Annie was pretty upset."   
Adam's worry increased by tenfold in those few moments Diana spent speaking, and Laurel was afraid that he would jump out and demand to know where Cassie was in a few seconds. Great, now it was obvious that she couldn't be depending on Adam to act sensible if Cassie ever did something the slightest bit out of the norm.  
"Adam, calm down" Melanie's quiet voice broke the silence in the room. She was usually the first one to think things through with any kind of coherence when they had a problem, and today seemed to be no exception. "We'll just look around for Cassie, she's got to be here somewhere. I know her mom is out in New Hampshire for a few weeks, visiting her old college roommate and some friends, but, we can go back to the store, and check with Faye, and the others. She could've met up with them. Or, she could've been held up somewhere. We'll find her, soon enough."   
Adam still looked as though he'd like to protest, but Melanie merely gave him a stern look. "Who drove over here? We're going to need cars, and I know Laurel and I walked."   
It turned out that Diana and Nick had car-type tansportation with them, and it was decided that Laurel and Melanie would go with Nick, while Diana and Adam would go alone. Laurel personally didn't think that it was the greatest arrangement. First of all, there'd be tensions with Diana and Adam. They had, after all, dated for a good four years (well, almost), and Laurel hadn't heard that Diana had been really serious about anyone besides Adam. Of course, Adam was annoyingly devoted to Cassie, but, one really must imagine the awkward silences. And, Laurel was going to be stuck with Nick and Melanie, who had spent most of the past year together.   
Yet, the three of them piled into Nick's new black Toyota-something. He'd picked it up from some guy somewhere, and it had been last summer's Project. Didn't turn out half as bad as most of his Projects, either, and the backseat was more than a pillow in a foot and half wide space, something that Laurel definetly appreciated. Being small, she always was the one to squeeze into small places.. in backs of cars, when they were camping, or whatnot. She almost wished that she was tall and stately like Diana, or at least moderate height, like Cassie and Melanie were. They were never forced to be the one to go into small places. Buckling herself in carefully, Laurel glanced at the backs of the seats where Melanie and Nick were sitting. She didn't know what to talk about with them, so, she hoped they'd let her in on the conversation. Or, at least acknowledge her exsistance. That would be nice, too.   
The car started up fairly smoothly, and they were off. True to her fears, Mel and Nick started into a conversation that immediatley excluded Laurel, and they almost seemed unaware of her presence. Great way to make a girl feel wanted.   
They exited the car, walking to the small grocery store where Cassie usually worked. Laurel trailed behind Nick and Melanie, almost dwarfed by the two of them, glancing at everything. Cassie's white Rabbit was not in the parking lot of the store, although Diana's sleek blue car was. They entered the cool air-conditioning without a word, and while Melanie and Nick wandered over to where Adam and Diana were already talking to Faye and the others, Laurel drifted more towards Annie's register, quiet now, as the whole store usually was when the Club of yore came in. The two of them had been friendly in high school -- Laurel was the only one of the coven who went out of her way to make outside friends. Diana and Melanie were beloved by all, but, people knew Laurel.   
"Hey, Annie." Laurel perched on the empty register and grinned. "It's been a while."  
"Yeah." Annie replied, with a friendly smile. "Y'all must be worried, Cassie seemed really upset when she left."   
"Hm." Laurel pondered for a moment. "Did she say anything?"   
"I already gave Adam the whole run-through." Annie remarked, dryly, and paused for a moment. "Wait. There was one thing I forgot. When she was going towards the back room, she said something about someone named Kori and looked more angry than upset. " Annie frowned. "It was kinda weird, she didn't even say goodbye or anything."   
Kori. The image of Chris and Doug's blonde-haired, turquoise-eyed sister flitted into Laurel's head, but, she made sure her facial expression didn't change. "Yeah, that is weird."  
"I guess you better head back" Annie said, ruefully. "Before Adam comes over here, and takes you by force."   
"Darling, Adam isn't the boss of me." Laurel quipped, and then got up. "But.. he is angry.. and big.."  
"I'll see you later, Laur." Annie grinned at her.   
Laurel hopped off the counter, and walked nonchalantly to the group, where Adam was looking like he'd cheerfully like to slaughter her. "What the hell are you doing!?" he snapped, grabbing her by the arm, roughly.   
"Let go of me, Adam." Laurel said, coolly, rolling her eyes. "I found out something about what happened to Cassie. Annie said that when she was leaving, she was muttering something about damning Kori, and was pretty angry."   
"Damning Kori? What the hell's that, Laurel?" Chris looked angry, he and Doug had never really recovered from Kori's death.   
"Laurel obviously doesn't know, Chris." Faye said, smoothly.   
"Does Annie know where she went?" Adam questioned, still looking angry with Laurel.   
"Just to the back-room and then, she left." Laurel answered, shortly, glaring at Adam.   
"Great. That's no help." Adam ranted  
"Actually, it is. We know Cassie's storming out had something to do with Kori." Nick asserted. "I think we all know where we need to go."   
Diana rolled her eyes. "I don't know. Enlighten me, Nick?"   
"The graveyard. Kori's grave. That's the only logical place."   
  



	3. A Typical Situation

Tuesday, June 3rd  
The Graveyard  
The Beach  
  
"That's the only logical place? That's the only freaking logical place? Then why the hell isn't Cassie here, damnit!?" Adam glared, and looked like he was about to jump Nick, who only stared coldly back at him. The grave was normal. Undisturbed. The plain stone still read "Kori Anne Henderson", listing her dates of birth and death, but, there wasn't even a tiny little magical footprint, or a thread off of Cassie's jacket.   
"It seemed logical at the time." he said, icily.   
"You bastard. You really are made of stone. I thought you might at least give a shit about what happens to Cassie, of all people." Laurel made a note to herself: Adam's temper had gotten worse over the school year.   
"Stop it, Adam."   
That must've been Di or Melanie. It wasn't Laurel, that's for sure. Despite the fact that it sounded...   
'Oh holy shit. I just said that.' Laurel thought to herself, and had the urge to giggle. Her little sentence had stopped everything, but, she really had to follow it up.   
"Stop it." she repeated. "No one else had any idea where to go. It was logical." Laur turned around, and glared at Adam. "Stop taking everything out on Nick. I'm sick of it."   
Nick glanced at her. "Thanks, Laurel." He and Melanie exchanged surprised looks, in some way conspiratal, and Laurel glared at them, too.   
"And you, two, stop being so damned cozy with each other. There are other members of the Circle, you know. I am going to go and find Cassie. I'd like if y'all could kindly leave me the hell alone while I try and do this, yes?" Wet. Oh, great. Laurel realized she was crying. "No, I do not want to talk, I will see you all tomorrow, have a lovely evening."   
This was the bit where Laurel was to stalk off into the night, and she did it rather nicely, until the bit where she noticed a dark-clad blonde figure leaning against the gates of the graveyard. She stopped, openmouthed, until the figure looked up at her, and she sighed in relief. "Chris."   
"Laurel." The tone was stony and defensive, not like what she usually heard from one of the Hendersons. "Whatcha doing out here?"  
"I could ask you the same." Laurel answered, wryly, wiping the tears from her cheek. "I kinda got pissed off at everyone and did that storming off thing. What are you doing here?"   
"I couldn't go." These words obviously took a good deal of effort. "I've never been there since she died, y'know. Not after the funeral."   
Idiot. Laurel had forgotten, after everything, that Kori was Chris' sister. She sighed. Kori was a person. The little blonde haired one, who'd always thought they were so cool, who always wanted to play with them, and idolized Diana while being terrified of Faye. Kori = Person. Kori does not = nameless corpse girl. "I'm sorry, Chris." Oooh.. real way to sympathize, Laurel. She sighed, and hugged him in a manner most platonic and comforting. "We were.. not thinking. As usual."   
Chris hugged her back, mechanically, and then, with a wee bit more emotion. "It's okay, Laur. Everyone's messy. Are you okay?"   
"I'm getting to it." Laurel replied, frankly. "I was planning to treck around the island on a Cassie search. Wanna come?"   
"Will it involve fast driving and loud music?" Chris looked almost amused  
Laurel smiled in a manner most twisted. "Considering my mood, I do believe it will."   
"I'm there."   
And they were. The hike back to Laurel's was a short one, but, as she got into the car, she paused, and glanced to Chris, her dark eyes widening. "We're idiots."   
"Yeah, I know. But, we gotta try and find Cass."  
"No, really. We all are. Where does Cassie go when Cassie is upset?"   
"Ummm.. Adam?" Chris looked confused   
"Yes. But, also, the beach." Laurel grinned a bit at him.   
"Hey. You're right."   
"Thank you." Laur stepped out of the car. "So, Chris, care to join me at the beach?"   
Chris grabbed his beat up jacket. "I'd be delighted, shall we have a spot of tea?"   
"Yes." Laurel replied, a ridicolous edge coloring her tone. "Tea and crumpets."   
"Then, let us gather by the water, Lady Laurel." Chris grinned a bit, and bowed, offering a hand to her.   
Laur took it greatfully. "Thank you, Sir Christopher." she curtsied, and giggled nervously.   
The walk down to the beach was a long one, and they took it silently. Laurel, for one, was full of apprehension about the possibility of finding Cassie, or the lack thereof. Whatever occupied Chris was a mystery. Laurel never had thought him to be quite close to Cassie, but, she could very well be wrong. It seemed like everyone had bonded with Cassie, at least once. Even Suzan didn't speak of her in a catty manner. Amazing, that. The perfect girl.   
Finally, they reached the beach, which looked only as a New England beach can. Imposing rock cliffs, black against the evening sky, a cold ocean, one part gray, one part translucent black. It was awe inspiring, and yet, somehow, human. The sand was smooth, and cold, the beach empty except for Cassie and Kori, who were chatting quite cozily over in one corner.   
Laurel tugged on Chris' hand. "Erm.. look."   
"Yeah. I did. Um.. did we like, do a lot of drugs and did I forget that?" Chris looked confused. Duh.  
"I don't believe so." Laurel replied, eeriely calmly.   
"Oh. Damn. Then.. um.. hey, Cassie!" Chris shouted. "Come here, would ya?"   
Cassie complied and Kori followed her. Chris glanced at them, and then, spoke again. "Uh.. yeah.. that's my sister, right?"   
"Yes." Cassie nodded, and smiled.   
"And, uh, wasn't she dead yesterday?"   
"Yep."   
"And may we explain this?" Laurel cut in, kind of annoyed at Cassie's smug little air. "Or at least get you back before Adam kills Nick and then Melanie kills Adam?"   
Chris, Kori and Cassie all looked at Laurel. "Melanie and *Nick*?" They said, as with one voice.  
"It's called platonic friendships, but, really, Cass, Adam's being an asshole. You may explain everything to me and Chris in the car. Kori, it's lovely to see you again." Laurel sounded kind of put-out, and Chris gave her a sympathetic glance.   
"Thank you, Laurel." Kori sounded... older. Being dead did that to you, Laurel guessed. "Drive slow, it's a long story."   
  



	4. Zombie Beach Party

Cassie's car  
The Graveyard  
Laurel's House  
  
  
"So, explain, please."   
"Why don't we wait.. "   
"Cassie." Laurel glared at the back of the driver's seat. "Explain. Please."   
Cassie sighed. "Well, it was while I was working, there was a disturbance in the place where we were storing the Tools." Laurel shot a panicked glance towards the passenger seat, where Kori sat, and noticed Chris giving a similar look. Cassie giggled, in the driver's seat. "Don't worry, Laur, I told Kori everything."   
Laurel shot Chris another panicked look, and was relieved to see that he had not appeared to go insane. "So, anyway. There was a disturbance where we were keeping the Master Tools, so, I decided to go down and check it out, since I'd had a hunch. I'd been to the graveyard, visiting Grandma's grave, and I'd noticed a distinct magical signature there, around the site of Kori's grave. Anyway, when I sensed the disturbance today, I went down to the beach, and there was Kori."   
"And what's your story, Kori?" Laurel said, perfectly aware of the fact that her rhyming sounded completely absurd.   
"My death was wrongful, done by the forces of Dark." Kori replied, in a softly mature voice that was out of place with her girlish looks. "The Light wanted to avenge it, and they sent me back."   
Laurel raised a brow dubiously, and noticed Chris mirroring her look. No matter what kind of delusion Cassie was under, surely the rest of the Coven would not accept such an odd and ambigous explanation without some arguement.   
"I think it's perfectly acceptable." Ten minutes later, at the graveyard, Faye was nodding her dark head. "I really do."   
"I agree." Diana chimed in, and around her, Adam, Doug, Suzan, Melanie, Sean and Cassie were nodding along with her.   
"What the bloody hell.. " Laurel muttered under her breath, and glanced to Chris, who was still looking as shocked beside her. Deborah and Nick looked dubious as well, but, then again, Deb and Nick always looked fairly dubious.   
"Well. We can't perform the ceremony until Sunday, since we need a full moon and all." Cassie continued, blithely, seemingly unaware that what she was saying was rank heresy. "So, how about we head up to my house, and party? Kori's alive again, that seems as good a reason as any other."   
Laurel blinked. Chris was right. They all had done quite a lot of drugs and forgotten about it. Yes. Many, potent, drugs. The worst part is, everyone was agreeing, and leaving, or making excuses not to go. It was madness, completely and simply. Laurel's eyes followed the group attending the party: Cassie, Diana, Faye, Suzan, Melanie, Adam, Doug, Sean. Her dubious folk, Chris, Nick, and Deb, were not attending, but, again, Deb and Nick were never really big party people. Laurel did give Chris a Look. "Wait up, okay? We need to talk."  
"Yes. We do." Nick replied from behind Laurel (he really was too good at that moving without people seeing him bit), where Deb was standing also, nodding, her heart-shaped face detirmined.   
"Um, yeah, me too." Chris said, glancing oddly at Deb and Nick. "Where to?"   
Laurel glanced back at her house. "Grandma's home, and she wouldn't bother us." It had always kind of made Laurel proud of her parents that they hadn't survived. They had both been brave enough to face down the evil that was threatening the coven, and to some extent, you don't miss what you've never had. She was even happier that they had killed Black John, and avenged her parent's death. Her grandmother was more than enough parent for her, most of the time.   
"Good idea." Deb ran a hand through her dark hair. "I've got my bike, anyone need a ride?"  
Chris gave Laurel a panicked look. A ride with Deb was even beyond the excitement tolerance of a Henderson twin. She sighed, and looked resigned. "We'll go with Nick, I'll squish into that little backseat again." Chris looked pointedly relieved, and they headed out to the car.   
The ride to Laurel's was made mostly in silence, probably because it was an exceptionally short ride. Witches apparently liked to build graveyards near their houses, or, quite possibly, commoners liked building graveyards near the witches houses. We're not entirely sure of the reason yet. Laurel's house was a nice Victorian one, a little run down, and certainly nothing as special as Diana's, but, not too bad. She lived at number five, next door to Adam on one side, and Faye on the other. They all piled into her livingroom, her grandmother was already quite asleep.   
Laurel spread out on her couch. "There's something very wrong here." she stated the obvious.   
"No shit." Deb had tucked herself into an armchair. "Kori's back from the dead, and not even acting like Kori, and everyone else is being all smiley and happy."   
"Faye never even liked Kori that much." Laurel mused, quietly. "And Suzan absolutely despised her."   
A pained look shot across Chris' face, which was, oddly enough, noticed first by Nick. "Suzan could never stand having someone around who threatened her as a guy-target." he commented, seemingly idly. "Diana intimidates 'em, and Faye scares 'em, but, Kori was adorable." Chris looked vaguely mollified.   
"The real question is, is that Kori?" Deborah sat up, straight as a rail. "She looks like Kori, but, she doesn't act like Kori. And, that little "My death was wrongful" explanation doesn't hold for shit with me. Why isn't the principal still alive, if that's the truth of the matter? Why aren't your parents back, Laur, or your's, Nick? Or anyone else whose death was wrongful." A restless expression crossed Deb's face. "It doesn't add up."   
"And Mel would never be taken in by something like that, not normally." Nick's voice was confident, and Laurel raised a brow, wondering just how close the enigma and the brain had gotten at that college of their's.   
"Neither would Doug." Chris spoke up for the first time, his voice firm, and less spacey than usual. "I dunno what the hell that thing is, but, I'm pretty damn sure its not my sister. Kor was never that serious."   
"So, if we're in agreement, there's really the question that remains - what's working through Kori? If it isn't her in there, who took her body?" Laurel frowned, quietly. "Black John is too obvious. When we killed him, we killed him good."   
"And someone would've sensed if he was back in town. He wasn't the most subtle critter." Nick commented, dryly.   
"We'll keep him on the list, just in case, but, mostly he's eliminated from the realm of possibilities." Deb nodded briskly. "If it isn't Black John, then, it's someone we've never dealt with before. Which is going to make things a lot more difficult." She bit her lip. "Damn. I've got no ideas." Looking around the room, she saw that everyone was equally clueless. "I wish, I wish we had Mel's Floppy disk of Shadows."   
Laurel shrugged, a little hurt. Apparently Melanie was the answer to all ills. "We have my grandma." she pointed out. "And all our own Books of Shadows. And, we can probably get access to Mel's, when we need to. It's just a matter of time."   
"I don't like that, Laur." Chris looked put out. "Some thing is wearing my sister's body." He looked upset, and Laurel mentally cursed herself, again. She kept forgetting that this was not just a nice academic spirit for Chris, it was a nice academic spirit which wore the body of his sister, who had died when she was only fourteen. It made quite the difference in the long run.   
Deb and Nick were looking as awkward as Laurel felt. Great. These two were even worse at Moments than she was. Where were Diana and Cassie when you needed them? Laur turned to Chris. "You wanna stay over here tonight? Things might be kind of, um, crazy at your house, and stuff."   
"And whatever is living in Kori might get kinda suspicious." Deb pointed out. "You'd probably be safer over here than at home."   
"Alright." Chris shrugged. "I don't really wanna go home, and see Mom and Dad and Doug make such a fuss over.. the whole thing. And, uh, I can help research. My parents still aren't too crazy about the Circle, and I dunno where they're hiding all the stuff, but, there's next to nothing at my house."  
"Good idea." Deb nodded, crisply. Then, she paused. Deborah didn't like to ask for favors, not even a few of 'em. "You mind if I stay over here tonight, too? My parents are being.. uh.. " she searched for a polite term.  
"Themselves." Nick filled in. "Me, too, Laur?"  
Might as well make it a slumber party. Laurel shrugged. "Sure. Keep all of us together and stuff, I guess. You guys need anything from home?"   
Nick, Chris and Deb looked scornful at the mere though. Laurel should've suspected that they lived in the jeans that all of them were currently wearing. "Alrighty, then. Lemme get some stuff out, we might as well forgot about as much as we can, and start making dinner."   
  
  



End file.
